Breaking Through to the Eighth Rank

When Gu Chang'an and Li Hongye returned to Sky Wind Martial Hall carrying the medicinal herbs,

the sky had already grown dim, and the night fell as heavy as ink.

The disciples of the martial hall had long since dispersed, and the training ground was empty.

The aroma of food drifted from the direction of the kitchen.

Xie Lanzhi wore a plain, elegant dress, busy in front of the stove, while Wang Xiaojuan helped by her side.

Li Tianfeng held a rice bowl, tasting the food as he urged her not to work too hard.

"You're back?" Li Tianfeng looked up and saw the two of them, putting down his chopsticks with a smile.

"We're back, Master," Gu Chang'an replied, setting down the herbs in his hand.

Xie Lanzhi turned her head to look at the medicine packages, blinking in surprise. "You bought this much medicine?"

Gu Chang'an said in a deep voice, "Master, Mistress, I am going to make a breakthrough to the eighth rank."

As soon as those words fell, the table fell into an instant silence.

Li Tianfeng's chopsticks paused in his hand, his brow lifting, and an expression of undisguised shock emerged on his face.

"What did you say?"

"I am preparing to enter seclusion to break through to the eighth rank."

Li Tianfeng stared at him for a long while, finally letting out a long breath and slowly sitting down.

"I had already felt for a while that your progress was swift, and that your qi and blood and the width of your meridians far surpassed ordinary people... but I didn't expect it to be this fast."

Hearing this, Xie Lanzhi felt surprised in her heart as well, but a smile immediately bloomed on her face.

"Chang'an, being able to go further is a blessing for our martial hall."

The few of them sat around the dining table, simply eating home-cooked dishes. Although there were no delicacies from land and sea, in this dimly lit courtyard, there was a distinct warmth and serenity.

After finishing dinner, Xie Lanzhi cleared away the bowls and chopsticks, and Li Tianfeng patted Gu Chang'an on the shoulder.

"Let me know when you go into seclusion, and I will guard you."

"Alright," Gu Chang'an nodded.

Afterward, he brought Wang Xiaojuan back to the old house.

"Xiaojuan, we're moving, starting tomorrow," he said softly.

Wang Xiaojuan had just taken off her shoes, paused, and looked up, blinking her eyes. "Okay."

Gu Chang'an looked at her, pondering for a moment.

"Don't you... have anything you want to say?"

Wang Xiaojuan tilted her head to think, then answered earnestly.

"Nope. Wherever Big Brother Gu goes, I'll go."

Hearing this, Gu Chang'an couldn't help smiling, though a trace of warmth and pity welled up in his eyes.

"We're moving next to Sky Wind Martial Hall. It's close to your master and mistress there, too."

Wang Xiaojuan's eyes lit up.

"That's wonderful!"

Gu Chang'an nodded.

He had seen it for a long time: Wang Xiaojuan had not the slightest bit of attachment to this place.

Here, she only had memories of hardship.

Her parents died in a sudden disaster, she had been bullied and oppressed, and her only grandfather had hanged himself.

This place had never brought her a shred of warmth, only coldness and humiliation.

Moving wasn't just about changing residences; it felt more like cutting off the past and starting anew.

The next day, Gu Chang'an brought Wang Xiaojuan and moved house.

Many of the surrounding neighbors were reluctant to see Gu Chang'an leave, but they also blessed him on gaining a completely new life.

Five days in a row.

Inside Sky Wind Martial Hall, Gu Chang'an barely stepped outside.

Morning cultivation, afternoon meditation, evening medicinal bath, night breath-regulation.

He poured all his time and energy into the critical nodes of breaking through to the eighth rank.

This evening.

Inside a stone house at Sky Wind Martial Hall, steam billowed and the medicinal fragrance was pungent.

Gu Chang'an sat cross-legged, soaking in a wooden barrel. Flecks of blood and shattered medicinal dregs floated in the water, boiling hot.

The herbs churned inside his body, and the medicinal power of the pills surged within his meridians.

The blood and qi within his body grew increasingly intense, and every time he circulated the Iron Cloth Shirt, he could feel his tendons and bones emit dull, powerful, crisp snaps.

Gradually, his entire body turned scarlet, his skin resembling refined iron being quenched, and impure blood was continuously forced out from the surface of his body.

He clenched his teeth, driving his qi and blood with all his might to assault the barrier.

Suddenly, his mind and spirit shook, and a sound like thunder echoed fiercely within his body!

"Boom!"

His tendons and bones shook, his meridians swelled, and his sea of consciousness trembled as an unprecedented surge of power rushed forth like a great river entering the sea, flowing endlessly.

"Hahahahaha—!"

Gu Chang'an's hearty laughter came from inside the room, imbued with an undisguised gratification.

Eighth rank!

He had finally stepped into the eighth rank!

Outside the courtyard, Li Tianfeng heard the laughter, stroked his beard with a smile, and looked up at the sky with a lingering sigh of emotion.

"Heroes truly emerge in numbers... The waves of the new generation push the old, and the old waves end up stranded on the beach..."

Xie Lanzhi stood beside him, her gaze a mix of complexity and a trace of gratification.

"Chang'an's talent is truly wonderful. I have never seen this kind of speed."

"This is more than just wonderful, he's simply a monster."

Li Hongye stood to one side as well, her tone filled with heartfelt admiration.

She hadn't been lazy these past few days either.

Every day she paired medicinal baths for body tempering, and then took Body Tempering Pill and Qi Circulation Powder. Her cultivation realm had indeed progressed quite a bit, and her qi and blood were much more consolidated than before.

She could feel her physique growing stronger, her fist force heavier, and her footwork faster.

If Gu Chang'an were to check her panel at this moment, he would find that her physique had already risen to 288, and she was not far from the eighth rank.

If this kind of progress were to happen to anyone else, it would already be shocking to the world,

yet compared to Gu Chang'an...

the gap remained like a chasm.

However, she didn't feel discouraged; instead, she felt somewhat excited.

Having such a monster walk alongside her was both a pressure and an incentive.

"What a monster of a junior brother," Li Hongye said softly, the corners of her lips curling into an arc. "Once his medicinal bath is finished, I'm going to have a proper fight with him."

Xie Lanzhi chuckled. "I'm afraid you're just looking to get beaten."

"Getting beaten is fine too," Li Hongye said, looking up toward the stone house where the medicinal fragrance curled, her gaze bright. "At least it will let me know how far behind I still am."

At this moment, Gu Chang'an was opening the system to check his personal information.

[Name: Gu Chang'an] [Lifespan: 23 years and 3 months] [Identity: Constable (Minor Official)] [Realm: Eighth Rank] [Physique: 525 (+4/day)] [Techniques: Mountain Shattering Saber Technique (Yellow Grade Middle Rank, Mastery/+), Green Lotus Poison Scripture (Yellow Grade, Proficiency/+), Iron Cutting Saber Technique (Yellow Grade Low Rank, Mastery), Complete Iron Cloth Shirt (Yellow Grade High Rank, Mastery/+), Flowing Wind Steps (Yellow Grade Low Rank, Perfection), Mountain Shattering Fist (Yellow Grade Low Rank, Proficiency/+), Archery (Mortal Grade, Proficiency/+)]

Eighth rank.

His physique had reached 525.

This numerical value directly rivaled late eighth-rank martial artists.

Therefore, he could now be considered a person of some stature here in Nanning County.

Looking at this data panel, Gu Chang'an couldn't help feeling a wave of emotion...

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